---

Public Health (England)

My hon. Friend, sadly, is absolutely right; however, he needs to take that issue up with the Opposition later in the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Mr. Wills) is absolutely right—this is not just a national health service issue. The health service should be, and is being, required to work more closely with local government not just on adult social services, but on education, the environment, leisure and transport. That is happening in my constituency and in many others. We must use local area agreements to bring together all the partners who can transform people’s lives—not just local government and the NHS, but local residents themselves, the police, public agencies, the voluntary sector, faith groups and the social enterprise sector. There are now three area assemblies in my constituency, based on eight local authority wards. People from the local chambers of commerce, the health sector and the various community groups meet monthly to discuss their communities’ lifestyles and the help that they need to improve public health. These are the actions that we need to take. I say—the Opposition will like my saying this—that it is crucial to have more joint appointments of directors of public health. I am not saying that public health should go back to being wholly the responsibility of local government. Not that long ago—certainly in my lifetime—local government had that responsibility. We took our eye off the ball decades ago, and I am pleased that the Government are addressing that issue.